The Channeled Scabland of Eastern Washington

In this article, Bretz proposes the formation of the system of buttes and canyons known as the Chaneled Scablands are the result of a massive glacial flood. In Bretz\u27s words, this region contains evidence of vigorous subfluvial action. This article is 32 pages.https://dc.ewu.edu/spc_pubs/1001/thumbnail.jp

Age of the Spokane glaciation

In this article, Bretz describes two glaciers that reached then drained through the northern part of the Columbia basalt plateau. Based on the physical evidence, Bretz attempts to determine when the earlier Spokane glaciation occurred relative to the Wisconsin glaciation. This publication is 7 pages long.https://dc.ewu.edu/spc_pubs/1004/thumbnail.jp

A study of environmental characterization of conventional and advanced aluminum alloys for selection and design. Phase 2: The breaking load test method

A technique is demonstrated for accelerated stress corrosion testing of high strength aluminum alloys. The method offers better precision and shorter exposure times than traditional pass fail procedures. The approach uses data from tension tests performed on replicate groups of smooth specimens after various lengths of exposure to static stress. The breaking strength measures degradation in the test specimen load carrying ability due to the environmental attack. Analysis of breaking load data by extreme value statistics enables the calculation of survival probabilities and a statistically defined threshold stress applicable to the specific test conditions. A fracture mechanics model is given which quantifies depth of attack in the stress corroded specimen by an effective flaw size calculated from the breaking stress and the material strength and fracture toughness properties. Comparisons are made with experimental results from three tempers of 7075 alloy plate tested by the breaking load method and by traditional tests of statistically loaded smooth tension bars and conventional precracked specimens

Boundary-induced anisotropy of the avalanches in the sandpile automaton

We study numerically the avalanches in a two--dimensional critical height sandpile model with sand grains added at the center of the system. Smaller avalanches near the center of the system are isotropic. Larger avalanches are, however, affected by the boundary of the system, to a degree that increases with the avalanche size. Up to linear system size $L=1001$, we did not find an obvious indication for lattice--induced anisotropy.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX, preprint HLRZ 38/9

MWL observations of VHE blazars in 2006

In 2006 the MAGIC telescope observed the well known very high energy (VHE, > 80 GeV) blazars Mrk 421 and Mrk 501 in the course of multi-wavelength campaigns, comprising measurements in the optical, X-ray and VHE regime. MAGIC performed additional snapshot observations on Mrk 421 around the MWL campaigns and detected the source each night with high significance, establishing once more flux variability on nightly scales for this object. For certain nights, the integral flux exceeded the one of Crab significantly, whereas the truly simultaneous observations have been conducted in a rather low flux state. The MAGIC observations contemporaneous to XMM-Newton revealed clear intra-night variability. No significant correlation between the spectral index and the flux could be found for the nine days of observations. The VHE observations of Mrk 501 have been conducted during one of the lowest flux states ever measured by MAGIC for this object. The VHE and optical light curves do not show significant variability, whereas the flux in X-rays increased by about 50 %. In this contribution, the results of the MAGIC observations will be presented in detail.Comment: Contribution to the 31st ICRC, Lodz, Poland, July 200

Avalanche statistics of sand heaps

Large scale computer simulations are presented to investigate the avalanche statistics of sand piles using molecular dynamics. We could show that different methods of measurement lead to contradicting conclusions, presumably due to avalanches not reaching the end of the experimental table.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

MARS, the MAGIC Analysis and Reconstruction Software

With the commissioning of the second MAGIC gamma-ray Cherenkov telescope situated close to MAGIC-I, the standard analysis package of the MAGIC collaboration, MARS, has been upgraded in order to perform the stereoscopic reconstruction of the detected atmospheric showers. MARS is a ROOT-based code written in C++, which includes all the necessary algorithms to transform the raw data recorded by the telescopes into information about the physics parameters of the observed targets. An overview of the methods for extracting the basic shower parameters is presented, together with a description of the tools used in the background discrimination and in the estimation of the gamma-ray source spectra.Comment: 4 pages, 0 figures, submitted to the 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference, {\L}odz 200

First contemporary case of human infection with Cryptococcus gattii in Puget Sound: Evidence for spread of the Vancouver Island outbreak

We report a case of cryptococcosis due to C. gattii which appears to have been acquired in the Puget Sound region, Washington State. Genotyping confirmed identity to the predominant Vancouver Island genotype. This is the first documented case of human disease by the major Vancouver Island emergence strain acquired within the United States